


I'd rather be there next to you

by niallhoranbitches



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No One Direction, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M, Single Parent Niall, this is just cheesy and fluffy and i'm sorry i can't write different fics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-17
Updated: 2016-09-17
Packaged: 2018-08-15 13:19:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8057938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/niallhoranbitches/pseuds/niallhoranbitches
Summary: Niall had his very own flat, a well-paid job and he was a 21-year-old single parent. He was satisfied with his life. At least until the day when Zayn was made to leave his flat for a while and stayed with Niall and his daughter.





	I'd rather be there next to you

**Author's Note:**

> Biggest hugs, kisses and thanks for my beloved [@cactinouis](http://cactinouis.tumblr.com/) for being my beta <3

It was a really nice and warm afternoon. The sun shone brightly as Niall was walking around the park, pushing the pram ahead. He needed to chill out for a moment, taking advantage of the fact that his daughter had fallen asleep. He tried his best not to think about the huge amount of work that was waiting for him at home. But it wasn’t that easy to clear his mind.

  
Niall was about to go for a fifth, maybe sixth round around the park, when he heard someone call his name. The voice was nicely familiar, so he stopped and looked around.  
It wasn’t hard at all to spot Zayn in the uncrowded park. He was looking at Niall, smiling lightly as he was moving towards him. He was wearing black skinny jeans and a red, plaid shirt with his sleeves rolled up, and Niall tried really hard not to droll at the sight. It would be weird. But it wasn’t the Irishman’s fault his best friend was abnormally attractive.

  
“Hey.” Zayn said, stopping by the pram.

  
Niall could just watch fondly as the dark-haired boy bended over to look inside the baby buggy. He delicately grabbed the tiny hand in his two fingers, grinning at the sleeping girl.

  
“What’re you guys doing here?” Zayn asked, giving Niall a quick once-over.

  
“Just went for a walk,” Niall shrugged “It’s nice today. And I’m definitely not running away from my responsibilities.”

  
“I want that too.” Zayn laughed quietly. “I’m just heading back from uni and now I have to go home, pack some things and ride to the other side of the city.”

  
“What? Why?” Niall asked.

  
They didn’t have many other options so they started to slowly walk again.

  
“The guy who owns my apartment decided to do some overhauling.” Zayn didn’t sound too fond about this idea “He literally told me this morning that I should move out for a couple days.''

  
Niall looked at his friend, rising an eyebrow.  Zayn didn’t laughed though, he was very serious and unamused by the situation. The thing is, it wasn’t the first time that Zayn’s landlord had done something like that. But last time at least he gave Zayn some time to figure things out. 

  
“Such a dickhead.” Niall sighed “What’re you gonna do now?”

  
“Go to my parents’ I guess.”

  
“But it will take you like an hour and a half to get to uni, at best !”

  
Zayn just rubbed his face, looking down, and shrugged. He wasn’t even looking mad at the prick. He just looked.. tired. And it was a way worse to witness.

  
“You can always stay at mine.” Niall found himself saying without even thinking. But then he stumbled at his words. “I mean... Of course if you want... And if you’re ok with Shaylee’s crying...”

  
Zayn’s lifted his head up quickly and he looked at Niall with wide eyes. Niall wasn’t sure if the dark-haired boy was happy or not, so he just glanced down at his daughter, reaffirming his grip around her pram.

  
“I...” Zayn started after a few seconds. “If you’re offering this for real...Seriously Ni, it would be great.”

  
Zayn was smiling shyly, when Niall looked at him and Niall smiled gently back at him. He'd be lying if he said he wasn’t a bit nervous about all this. Zayn was his friend. A really good one. He had been there for Niall when his life turned upside down and a lot of people left him. Zayn was right there, offering all the support he could, and that Niall really much needed, it may have caused Niall to develop a tiny crush on him. Or not tiny at all, more the kind of 'crazily in love' type of crush. So Niall is sometimes extremely nervous around his best friend, to put it lightly.

  
They split up just a few moments later. Zayn'd said that he was going to grab some things from home and should be at Niall’s in an hour.

  
As soon as Niall made it into his flat, he put Shaylee to the cot to let her sleep and he decided to use this moment of peace to do some work. Since Shaylee's birth, he learned how to use every free minute as best as he could.

  
Niall had his very own flat, a well-paid job, and he was a 21-year-old single parent. It sounds pretty unbelievable especially for someone who should still be studying. There were moments when even Niall himself couldn’t believe how is life turned out. But to be honest, he wouldn’t change a damn thing about it, even if he could.

  
Just a year ago he was just a normal student, maybe a bit more carefree than he should have been. Loving parties, avoiding responsibilities and having random one-night stands. He was enjoying life and thinking about anything but his future. Until he suddenly had to.

  
One of the girls he had slept with got pregnant. And the baby was his. That was quite the shock. He didn’t want to believe it. How was he supposed to be a father? Niall was everything but the parent material. He was immature, irresponsible and was barely able to take care of himself. He was pretty sure he wasn't ready to take care of a kid. But the girl wanted to have an abortion and that frightened Niall to death. He still has no idea what came through his head that day, but he couldn't let her do that. He assured her he was going to take care of the baby and convinced her to keep it. Since that day, Niall’s life changed a lot.

  
Niall was helping her as much as he could, he dropped out of university and took up the job in his cousin’s computer programming company. The mother was gone as soon as their baby girl was born. Niall named her Shaylee. Even though he knew that it’ll be extremely hard to rise her on his own, he was happy. At first he lived a bit with his mum, but eventually he decided he wanted to handle it by himself. And there he was.

  
The moment of peace didn't last very long. As he turned on his laptop, Shaylee woke up and started crying. Niall changed her diaper and fed her. She calmed down, but just for a few seconds. To appease her, Niall started walking around the living room, rocking her gently in his arms. He was humming a random song to her when he heard a knock on the door.

  
“Someone’s woke up, huh?” Zayn said, as soon as Niall let him in.

  
“And being moody” Niall sighed, but smiled. He went to the living room and Zayn followed him just a few seconds later. The dark-haired boy put his bag aside and sat on the couch next to Niall who still held Shaylee in his arms.

  
“Hellooo” Zayn cooed and smiled when the girl gripped his finger. She stopped crying, blinking slowly at Zayn. Niall felt like he was literally melting at the sight. But even Zayn’s appearance didn’t help for too long and Shaylee started screaming again.

  
“Oh c’mon, princess! Why do you want to scare Zee away at the start?” Niall said while rubbing his daughters belly, only half joking.

  
“Stop, she’s not scaring me at all!” Zayn denied without a second of hesitation. “You have work?”

  
Niall glanced at him questioningly. Zayn just pointed at the still turned on laptop left on the table.

  
“Yeah, I should finish this crap today but it will have to wait.” Niall shrugged “It always takes time to get her to fall back asleep.”

  
“I can take care of her and you’ll get the job done in peace?” dark-haired boy proposed.

  
“I... Thanks, Zee, but you don’t have too. It’s ok, I’ll take care of it later.”

  
“Yeah, shut up. Let me at least be useful for once.” Zayn laughed, reaching to take the little girl from Niall.The blonde boy hesitated for a short second but eventually he handed Shaylee over to his friend. Niall’s worries had to be written all over his face, because Zayn laughed lightly again and said:

  
“Easy, Ni, I can handle this, promise.”

  
“Ok, sure.” Niall nodded and smiled. “Sorry ‘bout that. And thanks.”

  
When Zayn had left the living room, Niall couldn’t focus on anything at first. He was hearing his baby girl crying and that meant he should be by her side right now. Every time, Niall had to remind himself that Shay was with Zayn and that Zayn would never let anything bad happen. So he forced himself to stay where he was and work.

  
He relaxed a bit, turned on some quiet music and finally got into the working rhythm. It was a wonderful feeling, knowing that he had someone else here to help him. For the first time in a really long time, he wasn’t distracted by those annoying thoughts about bills to pay, cleaning to do or other every-day problems he had to face. Niall could center completely on the job. And he was done in an hour and a half.

  
Niall sighed happily and stretched his back which made a cracking noise. He listened for a second to the sounds of home. It was almost completely silent except for his still quietly playing music. Shaylee had stopped crying a long time ago and Niall was surprised Zayn hadn't came back to the living room yet. Maybe he didn’t want to interrupt him or something?

  
The blonde boy got up and headed to find his friend. His flat was small so he didn’t have to look for too long. When he saw that the kitchen was empty, he went to his bedroom. And couldn’t help but coo over the picture he encountered there.

  
Zayn was in the bed, lying on his back with his arms protectively wrapped around Shaylee who was deep asleep on top of him. Niall was standing in the doorstep, just staring fondly at them, with a smile plastered to his face. It was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen in his life. He craved to cuddle himself by Zayn’s side, close his eyes and stay like this forever. Niall bit his lip, trying not to think about how impossible that was. Instead, he took a blanket from the closet and gently wrapped it around Zayn and Shaylee. He bent over to kiss his daughter’s head and carefully brushed his fingers through Zayn’s hair. The Irishman then debated how creepy it would be if he took a picture right now but decided against it, shook himself up and went to the kitchen to prepare some dinner.

  
*****

  
“Ya sure ya don’t want to take the bed?”

  
“Niall, if you ask me this one more time, I’ll choke you with a pillow, I swear.” Zayn sighed.

  
It was already late and they had spent the last ten minutes arguing about where Zayn should sleep. Niall absolutely wouldn’t let him stay on the couch because it was tiny and uncomfortable. So he’d suggested that one of them should take the air bed. Zayn offered that he’ll sleep there and it was impossible to change his mind. Finally they’d come to an agreement and were getting comfortable - Niall on his bed and Zayn on the floor near him, on the air mattress. They didn’t chat much, trying to fall asleep and have some rest.

  
As soon as Niall’s lids felt heavy, he heard Shaylee’s cry. He sighed, terribly tired since he’d slept just for about 4 hours last night. He was about to get out of bed when he heard blankets rustle from his side.

  
“Sleep, I’ll go.” Zayn said quietly, standing up and going to Shaylee's room before Niall could even react.

  
His daughter’s room had no door, so from his spot, Niall could watch Zayn picking Shay up. The dark-haired boy started to whisper something to her and the little girl stopped crying almost immediately. Niall couldn’t distinguish Zayn’s words, but he found the quiet sound really comforting. He drifted to sleep without even realizing.

  
The next time Shaylee woke up was a few hours later. Niall moved nervously, opening his eyes. His sleepy brain needed a moment to understand what was going on. He leaned on his elbows blinking slowly but before he managed to completely got up, he notice movement beside him.

  
“Go back to sleep, Ni.” Zayn whispered and went to the baby’s room.

  
Niall really wanted to protest, to say that Zayn didn’t have to do this. But he was so horribly tired that he couldn’t find the energy to do anything. He just stared with heavy-lidded eyes at Zayn’s silhouette. Oh, how Niall wished his life to be like that forever.

  
He must have to zone out because he didn’t notice the moment when it became quiet again and Zayn was back in the room. He stopped by Niall’s bed and lifted up the covers. But then he had to realize what he was trying to do, because he froze.

  
“Oh, sorry, I...” Zayn stumbled, but Niall didn’t let him finish.

  
“’S ok. You deserve the bed. U‘r n'angel.” the blonde boy said, weakly tugging Zayn under his arm.

  
Zayn didn’t protest too much and when he was lying beside Niall, the irish boy wrapped his arms around Zayn’s waist and rested his head on Zayn’s chest. He was barely aware of what he was doing, his brain wasn’t working properly that late in the night.

  
“No idea why ya doing this, but thank you.” Niall yawned.

  
“You deserve some rest, Ni.” Zayn whispered, absent-mindedly rubbing Niall’s back in a comforting gesture, “I’m in awe that you’re handling all this by yourself and doing it wonderfully. But I want to help you a bit.”

  
“Marry me, please.” Niall mumbled into Zayn’s chest, “Love ya s’much, Zee.”

  
*****

  
When Niall woke up the next day, something was different. It wasn’t feeling like his usual mornings. The blonde boy was laying still, not opening his eyes as he tried to deduce what had changed. His head was resting on something way too tough to be his pillow. And too warm. It felt like he was hugging a heater. A heater that, weirdly, smelled like Zayn.

  
Zayn? Oh.

  
OH. Niall remembered what had happened last night and, more importantly, what he said. He felt his cheeks starting to burn and embarrassment was growing in his mind. Niall wondered how long he could pretend to be asleep. But then his plans went awry when a hand that rested on top of his head started to move, scratching Niall’s scalp lightly. The blonde boy couldn’t help but groan softly in the back of his throat. Zayn just laughed at it, but didn’t take his hand away. Niall opened his eyes since he’d exposed himself, but didn’t say anything. Mostly because he had no idea what to say.

  
“Slept well?” Zayn asked, finally breaking the silence.

  
“Best in ages.” Niall agreed truthfully, “Thank you.”

  
Zayn just hummed in response and they became quiet again. Niall’s head was lifted up every time Zayn inhaled and the blonde boy caught himself syncing his breaths with Zayn’s. He really wanted to stay like this forever.

  
“I was thinking...” Zayn started again, still brushing his fingers through Niall’s hair. When the Irishman nodded to show he was listening, Zayn continued “Is that marriage proposal still on?”

  
Niall’s whole body stilled. He swallowed thickly, before asking:

  
“Do ya... Do ya want it to be?”

  
“You have no idea how much.”

  
Niall rapidly lifted his head up to look up at Zayn. The dark-haired boy was already staring at him, smiling softly with shyness in his eyes. Zayn bit his lower lip and Niall’d never wanted to kiss him more. Eventually Niall decided that he had nothing to lose since it was just a dream so he leaned forward and placed a short, gentle kiss on Zayn’s lips.

  
“In that case - of course it’s on but we could, ya know, start from being boyfriends maybe?” he said as he moved away the tiniest bit.

  
Zayn just laughed and his hand found its way to Niall’s hair again.

  
“I think that’s great idea.” he said, connecting their lips once more.

  
For a few moments they’d just laid there, cuddled together, exchanging light pecks and smiling at each other like idiots. This idyllic moment was interrupted by Shaylee’s cry.

  
“I’ll go.” Zayn said, giving Niall one last kiss before getting up.

  
Niall turned over and laid on his stomach with his face pressed to the mattress. He felt like he could burst into tears of happiness at any moments. And when Zayn smiled at him with crinkled eyes, hugging Shay to his chest, Niall realized his wish may haven't been as impossible as he used to think.


End file.
